Artofthemix.org

Artofthemix.org is the only reason I knew anything about music before I got to college.

You can browse mixes by category, or search for an artist or song. I used to browse lists for hours (there wasn’t much to do in my town) then download the songs or bands that kept cropping up. Thanks to this site, I got to know and love a few Death Cab for Cutie songs while I was still in my all-Dave, all-the-time phase.

Plus, who wouldn’t love a site that promotes mix tapes? It offers mix CD and playlist options too, but I’m a sucker for a good old-fashioned cassette. (Even though I no longer have a tape deck.)

Mix tapes take so much more effort than their electronic brethren. You have to really think about the order of songs, and then you have to sit there and listen to the whole thing while you record it. The process ensures some degree of quality and continuity. If somebody made me a mix tape (and got me a tape deck to play it on…they must be pretty cheap by now!), that would be the ultimate gift. Just sayin’.

~ by mgloftus on June 24, 2008.